A/N: Three times. This is the third time I have written this. It must suck compared to what I first had, but the first time, it got deleted, and the second time, I forgot to save it. GODDAMMIT, JADEN! LEARN YOUR LESSON! This is the third fanfic I've lost this way. I'm sorry, Suzu, C.C. and Shylee! *sobs*

That's actually why it's taken so long for me to update. I was reluctant to write since I had written a lot of the story, but it got deleted for reasons I'm not going to bother getting into. I honestly didn't have any intention of continuing, but for some reason, people messaged me saying they wanted more chapters. Still, I sometimes like writing this story. It's weird since I originally made this story as a place where I can have fun and go all-out on stupid clichés and not have to think so hard about how to make things work. Yet there were people who ended up liking it. Go figure. 

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, even though the quality is far poorer than the original. It's probably going to seem like their feelings came out of nowhere, too. I had it all going right and adequately explained in the original version. First, I lose six years' worth of poetry, and now this. Use the Cloud or a flash drive, people, or regret it forever. It has been about a year since I wrote this original chapter, and I am still beating myself up over this. 

Also, Sakura told Suzu about the bell test they had when they first met Kakashi, which is why Suzu knows what is going on.

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The two teens were walking through the forest, heading to the meeting point that Kito's mother had given them.

"You shouldn't have acted all high and mighty like that, Suzu-chan. The guy was just trying to help."

"No way, he wasn't just doing that out of kindness," Suzu told Kito. "I could tell he wanted more than just my thanks."

"You're paranoid," Kito said plainly.

Suzu sighed. "You'll understand when you're older."

"I'm only five months younger than you!"

"That's still five months less mature."

Kito groaned. "We're here now, so please just shut up."

"No promises," Suzu said with a wink.

"Hey, there you are," said Yumi when her son and student approached her and the others. "What took you so long?"

"This one has the attention span of a squirrel," Kito explained, pointing accusingly at the black-haired kunoichi standing next to him.

Suzu crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Oh, give it a rest, will you?"

"I get why this one's here," Kito said, his finger still pointed at Suzu, "but why me?"

"Is this the kind of greeting I get?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Kito's usually stoic face lit up with joy.

"Jiraiya-jisan!"

"Look at you," said the old Sannin, grinning from ear to ear at Kito, whose hair he ruffled. "I'm gone for a few years, and you've practically become a man."

"Debatable," Sakura said, and she and Suzu giggled at Kito, who glared at the two of them.

Still smiling, Suzu turned to look at Naruto, and the two looked each other up and down. She found that she had to force herself to keep smiling when their eyes met. "You've gotten taller, Naruto-kun."

Naruto waited for her to go on about how different he was, but it seemed that's all she had to say. She felt it wouldn't be appropriate to say any more, for fear that she might let her discomfort show. 

They both looked the same, with only minor differences. Suzu had gotten several inches taller but was now shorter than Naruto. Her hair, which she had once kept short and in braided pigtails, was even shorter now and rested on the back of her neck. Her body had filled out as she reached adulthood. Though overall, she was still Suzu.

Naruto, though slightly taken aback by her overall quietness, smiled in response to her comment. "Looks like you've grown a few inches, too."

"Alright, that's enough," said Tsunade. "The nostalgia ends here.
"Kakashi?"

Kakashi closed his book, then addressed his three students. "Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? From now on, the three of you will come with me on team-related missions. It's different than before. It's no longer teacher and pupil. Starting today, we're equal Konoha shinobi." There was a tiny jingling sound as Kakashi pulled out three small bells. His three students grinned, knowing what this meant, while Kito and Konohamaru stared on curiously. "Well," Kakashi said, "first, I'm a bit curious as to how you've developed. The rules are the same as when I first met you. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you will never succeed in getting the bells!"

Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Yumi all stared on in amusement at Team 7's reunion. Konohamaru's eyes lit up in both excitement and curiosity, and Kito simply scoffed.

"Shinobi," he harrumphed, crossing his arms.

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"Did you have any trouble?" Yumi asked once all the others had gone.

"We were fine for the most part," Jiraiya said. "Its location is a secret, after all. What about you? Did you tell her that...?"

"No, I haven't."

"Geez, Yumi. The girl has a right to know about her parents."

"And Naruto doesn't?" Yumi shot back, and Jiraiya winced at her words. "Haruka's parents are dead. Giving her any information at this point complicates things. We can't let her find out that we know who she is, either. She might leave, and at this point, Konoha's the only safe place for her. Have you even heard what's happened, Jiraiya? Konoha, Iwa, Kumo, and Suna. Those are the only villages left whose bijū haven't been captured."

"And yet you're helping her to train to be a kunoichi? As she climbs ranks, she's going to be expected to go on missions outside of the village sooner or later. She'll be spotted eventually. There's no way she can keep up this training."

Yumi couldn't help but grin at Jiraiya's remark. "I doubt it will stop her from trying."

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Suzu had ventured out into the woods as she often did after a long day of work. She lay back on the grass, hands behind her head as she looked at the sky. The leaves of the trees shaded her, but the reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows of the setting sun peaked through them and warmed her.

Today was supposed to be a happy day. A dear friend of hers had returned, but the feeling was bittersweet. She should feel joyful, but any positive feelings she had seemed to be overshadowed by anxiety and dread.

"Suzu-chan?" came an unfamiliar voice. She quickly realized it was Naruto's, having matured over the past three years.

"Hi, Naruto," she said, still staring at the leaves above her. She didn't want to meet his gaze.

"You kind of disappeared back there," he said.

"Sorry about that," she said. "It's just..."

"Sakura-chan said that I could probably find you here. Looks like she was right."

"Yeah. It's been a long day."

"No kidding. It's been great getting to see everyone again, though. I really missed Konoha."

"Konoha missed you," Suzu said with a laugh, but her smile left as soon as it had come.

Neither said anything until Naruto finally decided to speak up. "Suzu-chan, are you unhappy that I'm back?"

She was silent for a moment before finally answering. "I don't know," she said truthfully.

She was happy to have him back, but with his return came a reminder. A reminder that she would never truly be Suzu or a member of the village. A reminder that she was using everyone in Konoha—that she was using Naruto—to hide from the dangers of the world that threatened her.

Naruto. Why did deceiving him hurt the most?

"It's just, seeing you here, everything feels so real. It's really been years. Years since we became shinobi. Years since I came to Konoha. Years since Sasuke left. Years since you...
"But you're back now. Having to think about all of this now, it makes me sad, but at the same time... I'm really happy to see you, Naruto. I'm so happy you're alive."

"Of course I am!" he said with a grin. "There was never anything to worry about, anyway!"

Suzu smiled. Did he really have no idea that they were targets?

Naruto sat down next to her, and they began to talk about old times and catch up on what each of them had missed. Thinking of those old times, all they had gone through, and in Suzu's case, how much she secretly related to the boy, it warmed both their hearts. 

The two eventually got to their feet and silently walked together through the forest and back towards the village. Suzu stopped walking when she realized that Naruto was no longer by her side. She turned around and saw him standing still and staring back at her. Something happened when their eyes met, and they began walking towards each other. Suzu remembered. She remembered how they had been by each other's sides in life-and-death situations and how, when she had been blind, Naruto had helped her to see the light once again. They stopped once they stood in front of each other. The way they looked at each other was so intimate, as if they had exchanged a secret through their eyes. He leaned towards her, and she stood still, ready to accept him, when everything came back. 

It could never happen because Naruto knew Suzu, and even though that's the role which she had assumed and would forever continue to play, Haruka knew she would never truly be that person.

She stepped back. "I can't," she said, staring at the ground and shaking her head.

"Why not?"

She forced herself to look up and meet his eyes. "I'll only end up hurting you."

Naruto clenched his fists and glared at Suzu.

"I'm stronger than you think, Suzu-chan."

"Well, I'm a lot weaker than you make me out to be," she said before running away.

"Suzu-chan!" 

But in truth, she was stronger than he could have ever imagined.